War Between Galaxies
by SW-fanatic
Summary: An alien probe is found drifting. A wormhole is found just outside Federation space. Who, or what, awaits Starfleet on the other side?


Chapter 1  
  
Milky Way Galaxy, Federation territory, unnamed system:  
  
The sprinkle of stars littered the sky outside the Aries. One of the newest Sovereign-class vessels to be completed, she was now a full member of the fleet, undergoing patrol and border defense missions as well as science and diplomatic missions, to a lesser degree. Thousands of kilometers away, two Akira-class cruisers dropped out of warp and came to a full stop outside Deep Space 12. "Our escorts have arrived, Admiral." Admiral Joseph Kerix gave a curt nod in response, "Tell them we will be leaving immediately." Kerix then tapped his combadge, "Admiral Kerix to DS12 Docking Control, we're ready to leave, awaiting your clearance." The voice of the traffic controller came back over the bridge speakers, "Understood Admiral, you are cleared to leave. All ships have been directed out of your path." "Thank you Docking Control, see you soon. Kerix out." Joseph turned slightly in his seat, "Helm take us out." The mighty Sovereign-class vessel slipped her mooring and slid out of her dock. As the Aries pulled away and moved to impulse speeds, the two Akiras took up escort position on either side of her. The trio of ships moved forward and the brilliant blue mouth of the wormhole opened. The Starfleet ships moved forward, into the wormhole and within minutes, were transported to the other end, wherever that was. Joseph stood from his chair and took a couple steps forward, "Ops, are you picking up any starships on long-range sensors?" "Yes, sir. In orbit of several planets. No warp signatures detected." The second officer spoke up, "Could be non-interstellar ships. That would explain no warp drive." Kerix thought about it, "Could be. Could also be that they have an entirely different form of faster-than-light travel. Helm, set course for the nearest planet, warp 7." "Course laid in." "Engage."  
  
  
  
Lucasian Galaxy, Lanly system:  
  
Admiral Ackbar walked into the briefing room unceremoniously. Several conversations that were being held at the same time died down as Ackbar moved to the podium in the front of the room. "Welcome gentlebeings. I trust you all had a good nights sleep." He reached a webbed hand out and flipped on the holoprojector. An area of space sprang into being. In the center was a mass of colors, swirling as something entered it. "This is your target. It is a newly discovered wormhole in the distant Lanly system. We sent a probe through several days ago but have not heard from it since. Captain Bylle, you are to take your operations team through this wormhole and scout the other side. Find out what happened to our probe. Report on possible resources for our use." Captain Myk Bylle of Alliance Intelligence leaned forward with interest. "What about the probe? Did we manage to get any information from it? What will I be taking my team into?" "We only received telemetry from the probe for 8 hours after it went through. It entered an inhabited star system and then stopped transmitting. As for what you will encounter, only the Force knows Captain." Myk nodded as the Admiral kept speaking, "The Command Cruiser Innocent will be holding on this side of the wormhole. If you need her, call her. If their are no more questions..." the admiral paused, "Then man your ship. And may the Force be with you." Ackbar shut down the holoprojector and exited the briefing room, leaving the seven Intelligence operatives alone. Myk sprang up and went back to the holoprojector, turning it on. Murmurs were heard as to the nature of what would be on the other side of the wormhole. Myk visually studied the area around the wormhole, including the telemetry data from the probe droid that was sent through. Riles Quinn led the Sullustan, Zema Larue, out of the briefing room and to a nearby ready room. Ralliworr roared something in Wookiee before proceeding to follow them. Ives Cohn, one of the best damn slicers in the Alliance, made a few notes on his datapad before standing up and exiting, talking with Vincent LaReal about the gear they would need. That left just Jyyl and Myk alone. She approached him from behind, "What do you think?" Myk held his chin in his hand. He did not seem surprised by her approach, not surprising since he was Force-sensitive. "I don't know. It's clouded. The fact that the probe didn't give us much doesn't help either." Jyyl placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Hey, relax a little. You've got me. I haven't let you down yet, have I?" She gave him a warm smile which he returned. "C'mon, we better get our gear together." "Everything I need is aboard the Goldeneye already. Go on, I'll meet you guys aboard." Jyyl gave him one last smile before departing the room. Myk made a few more quick notes on his datapad and then turned off the holoprojector and jogged to the hanger. Sitting there off to one side was his battered old YT-1300. He loved that ship. It was his pride and joy. Bought by his uncle and restored by him, the ship was upgraded heavily when he became a part of Alliance Intelligence. It had survived a great many missions because of those modifications. Myk hoped they wouldn't let him down now. He entered the ship and went straight to the cockpit, taking his place in the pilots seat. He began warming the engines for takeoff when the rest of the command crew entered. Ralli took the copilots seat with Jyyl at the communications console and Riles at the sensors station. The weapons were routed to the pilots station, though it meant having to maneuver the freighter more like a starfighter if they got into trouble. The Goldeneye was up for it though, with increased deflector capability and added maneuvering jets. "Here goes nothing." Myk said as he activated the repulsorlifts and nudged the ship out of the enclosed hanger bay. Once spaceborne, the main engines were pushed up and the freighter shot off through the gathered Rebel fleet. They had just taken off from Home One, Ackbar' flagship. Nearby, it's sister ship, Innocent, stood ready to assist if need be. Various other corvettes, frigates and light cruisers were gathered to protect the mammoth rebel ships. Home One changed it's course and came around one-hundred-eighty degrees before engaging it's hyperdrive. That just left the Innocent and it's escort. The Goldeneye left the fleet behind and approached the swirling emerald monster. In a flash, the ship was sucked inside. Time bent. Reality twisted. In less than a minute it was over. "Damage report?" Myk called out over the intercom. "Engine room reports ok." "Starboard Cargo reports ok." "Gun wells reports ok." "Airlocks reports ok." "Port cargo reports ok." The reports came in in the green as the operatives ran around in back checking the integrity of the ship. She was in fighting condition. They hung motionless in space, shields down. That was quickly remedied by Ralli who put full shields in all arcs. Riles checked his sensor board, "Last known coordinates for the probe were 273 mark 94 mark 145. I think that's as good a place as any to start." Jyyl had been switching through comm frequencies, "Nothing but empty space." Myk absorbed all the reports as he set the probes trail into the navicomputer. While the probe had had to travel at sublight, it had recorded and transmitted a narrow path of coordinates that could be traveled safely in hyperspace. That trail ended at the system where contact with the probe was lost. "All the coordinates are set. Time is one hour distant. Engage." Ralli reached forward and pulled the hyperspace lever, sending the YT-1300 into hyperspace in the Milky Way galaxy.  
  
  
  
Milky Way Galaxy, Federation space, near Cardassian border:  
  
The Valkyrie shot through space at warp 5. The Galaxy-class starship was returning home from a deep recon in Cardassian space. The bridge was practically empty. Captain Red Wolf couldn't sleep and had relieved the second officer for the remaining two hours of the shift. The near-empty bridge felt alone to him. Cold. Red sat back in the command chair with a warm cup of coffee in his hand, reflecting on the good times he had had with Sisko when he was last at Deep Space Nine. I can't believe.... A loud voice penetrated his thoughts, "Captain!" Wolf shook himself out of his reverie, "Yes?" "I'm picking up....something." "Define something, Ensign." "I can't, sir. I've never seen anything like it." "Can you give me a guess?" Red quipped. "Well," Ensign Takamoto replied, "It appears to be some kind of....probe. It's sending out low-power sensor signals in all directions and gathering all coordinates and astronomical information within a 500 kilometer radius." The Valkyrie dropped from warp right in front of the probe. They were in the Norzin system, a colony on the very distant edge of Federation space. A frontier planet. "Track it's path. I want to know where it came from." "Yes, sir." "Lt. Iron Horse, what's the ETA on the Akiras?" Iron Horse tapped a few keys on his console, "Approximately three hours." Red sighed, "Inform Whitaker of our find. Ensign, have you found where that thing came form yet?" "It appears to dead end. A gas giant system 2 light years away and outside Federation territory." Red nodded, "Send all this information to Whitaker. Helm, set course. Warp 9. Engage. How long until we arrive?" With a blue glow the Valkyrie's warp engines lit up and the ship jumped to warp. The Ensign at the helm reported, "Approximately sixteen hours."  
  
  
  
Milky Way Galaxy, Federation territory, Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards, Mars:  
  
She was big. Seven hundred forty three meters. She was new. Construction completed one month ago. She was powerful. Twenty Type XII phaser strips, two quantum torpedo launchers with 100 torpedos and two tri- cobalt torpedo launchers with 40 torpedos. Registry number: NX-70982. Crew complement: 1,749. The USS Bismarck was the most powerful starship in Starfleet. Outgunning even a Sovereign-class battle cruiser, the Bismarck was meant for war. She was completed shortly before the Dominion War ended and had been helping clean up stray Dominion vessels and outposts throughout the quadrant. Now the battle cruiser lay in drydock, workbees and repairmen moving over her hull, repairing damage sustained in a recent battle with several Jem'Hader attack ships. On board, Captain James Soris was making his final rounds of the ship before leaving for Earth, to visit friends and family. After a short stay on Earth, he was heading to Betazed to see his family, how they held up during the occupation. Soris walked along the ship's corridors, inspecting everything. Finally he came to the bridge. A medium- height Vulcan female stood up, "Captain. Aren't you headed for Earth yet?" Soris smiled at her, "Ah, Commander Relia, good to see you again." Relia had not been under his command long, only since he took command of the Bismarck six months ago. "I'm getting ready to go now. One last inspection before leaving, that's all. The crew has been needing this leave for a long time." "Captain, the last shuttle for Earth is leaving soon." A disembodied male voice came over the intercom. Another, more familiar voice followed, "Yeah, hurry it up or I'll have you busted back to ensign faster than you can say it." Soris smiled at the recognition of the voice, "Yes Admiral, I'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
"Admiral Taylor?" questioned Relia. "Yeah. Good friend of mine. He was a command level ahead of me. When I made captain, he was an admiral. To this day I think he had something to do with it." Relia quirked an eyebrow, "I see." After a brief silence between them, Relia said, "Well Captain, enjoy your leave." "Thank you Commander. You too." "I will, to the extent of my logic, enjoy myself Captain." Jim waved goodbye to her and entered the turbolift. Vulcans, he thought to himself as the doors closed and the lift took him to the shuttlebay. He was still in the turbolift when his combadge beeped at him. He tapped it, "This is Captain Soris." "Jim, I hate to do this to you but we're going to have to cut your shore leave very short." Admiral Taylor said without preamble. "Why is that Admiral?" "We received a report from the USS Valkyrie of an unknown probe in the Norzin system. We don't know where it came from. Captain Red Wolf has taken the Valkyrie to the probe's apparent origin. He's preparing for a possible First Contact. I want the Bismarck on hand just in case this is some new Dominion technology we're seeing." There lift stopped and Jim stepped out into the Bismarck's shuttlebay. "Admiral, if this is First Contact, or even new technology, I don't see what good the Bismarck will do. We don't have much diplomatic capability and if it is new technology, the Bismarck might not even be able to defeat it." "I know you don't understand and that's ok. For now. I can't tell you much more on an open frequency. You will receive a full report when you arrive at Deep Space Twelve. Your entire crew is still on Earth. They have all been notified and will be returning to the Bismarck. Repair work on her has been accelerated too." It took a picosecond for Jim to hit on something, "Admiral, there is no Deep Space Twelve." Admiral Taylor's voice grew smug, "Trust me Jim, there is a DS12. By the time you get there, Wolf should have things sorted out and he will brief you." Jim let out a sigh, "Very well, sir. When do we leave?" "You leave at 1900 Earth. Again, I'm sorry to do this to you and your crew. Hopefully it's nothing." "Hopefully. Is that all Admiral?" "Yes, it is. Taylor out." Dammit, Jim thought to himself as he got back aboard the turbolift and rode it back to his quarters.  
  
  
  
Milky Way Galaxy, Federation space, Norzin system:  
  
The Goldeneye approached the planet cautiously, not knowing whether they were detected by sensors yet or not. Commander Ives Cohn had taken the copilots seat, "Probe's coming up on sensors. It's not transmitting, only gathering. Stationary. Hasn't moved in, oh I'd say about eight hours." Myk nodded, "Alright, we're going to pick it up. Give me a sensor sweep of the system." "Seven planets, one inhabited. Population: one thousand five. Class 1 atmosphere, moderate hydrosphere. Varying terrain types: hills, valleys, mountains, ocean, rivers, forests. Detecting one settlement in this hemisphere. On a crossroads of three of the major rivers. Looks like everyone's hanging out there." The YT-1300 moved forward and docked with the probe, it's mandibles latching onto it. The ship then changed course toward the planet and accelerated. After a sensor focus of the alien city, Myk piloted the Goldeneye through the atmosphere, plotting a course that would keep them out of visual range of the settlement. He set the ship down only a kilometer outside the city. After the ship was powered down, the group gathered in the main cargo bay. "Alright, Zema, Ralli, you guys stay with Riles and Vincent. My, Ives and Jyyl will check out the city. We won't be long. Pop in, check it out, and come back." The three AlliInt members dressed themselves in civilian garb and departed the ship carrying only hold-out blasters, and Myk his lightsaber. "It's just a few meters over that ridge." Ives said as he used a portable scanner to scan the terrain. He replaced the portable scanner in his pack. Each commando had taken a small pack with a few survival supplies and equipment.  
  
The three Rebels hopped over the small ridge and came within sight of the town. It's dusty brown complexion made it look like it was just plucked off a desert planet. They made their way into town as inconspicuous as possible. They went off to the side and stopped.  
  
Myk turned to face his comrades. "Jyyl, we're going to need local currency. See what you can do. Ives, check out the town hall. See if you can pull records. Local star charts, political affiliations, resources. Anything that you think we can use. I'm going to check out the locals." Each one of them was highly trained. They knew their mission. They split up and went their separate ways. 


End file.
